Cloudy Water Overnight! Help!! UPDATED 12/4

UPDATE 12/4 8AM

Just wanted to update on the problem.
I had to go out of town for the weekend and I was a nervous wreck the whole time thinking about my tank.

When I got home the water was black! Yes, black! When I drained it out the water looked dark purple/black. I have no idea what in the world could cause this but I drained the entire tank and thought that maybe my sand bed hadn't been rinsed enough. I scooped all the sand out and rinsed it about 15-20 times washing the rest of the black out of the bucket. I don't think this was the issue as I had been using the same sand and it didn't turn the water black before but I just wanted to make sure (also wanted to rescape anyways).

I also have replaced the filterpad with a carbon filterpad since the last post thinking that might help. Not sure if it did or not. The filterpad also has a black sludge on it.

When I refilled the aquarium I did not use neutral regulator but just used water conditioner to remove the chlorine. After filling, the tank was crystal clear and looked great. When I woke up this morning the water had clouded a little bit again but not nearly as bad as before.

Any idea why the water might have turned black?

Here's a little background info:

Tank is 13 Gallons
Has Manzanita wood that has been sandblasted, rinsed and buried in the sand so it stays down.

I did a 30% Water change yesterday and I use Seachem Neutral Regulator to get the pH to 7 and eliminate the chlorine from the tap water.

I run an aqueon quietflow 10 without a carbon filter. I know I should probably have one but I am just using a filterpad for now.

The tank is only about 3 weeks old.

Anyways, I woke up this morning and the tank was super cloudy. It looks like dust being blown around in my tank.

I actually had about 75% of the sand and most of the wood and 8 gallons of the water in an 8 gallon tank for about 2 months before.

I moved everything over to the 13 gallon 3 weeks ago. Should I have cycled the tank again? The fish and snails do not seem to be bothered by the water quality.

The water was crystal clear last week before I left for the weekend. When I got back, there was algae on the glass (too much lighting). I toned down the lighting to half of what it was, reduced my light period, scrubbed the algae off the glass and did a 30% water change. That was all on Sunday. I then did another 30% water change yesterday (Wednesday) and then woke up this morning and it was cloudy like there was a fog being blown around in my tank.

Have you cycled the aquarium? The 0 nitrate reading seems to be that the aquarium has not cycled yet and the cloudy water that you are seeing may be due to a bacterial bloom.

I think Darkblade is right, this is the bacterial bloom. It may takes a couple of days, one week, even two sometimes before it slowly disappears. Then it means the cycle is started and you can begin to slowly add fishes.

This is normal, but there should not be any fishes in the tank before the cycle is started normally.

I actually had about 75% of the sand and most of the wood and 8 gallons of the water in an 8 gallon tank for about 2 months before.

I moved everything over to the 13 gallon 3 weeks ago. Should I have cycled the tank again? The fish and snails do not seem to be bothered by the water quality.

I assume you moved the filter over as well? Most of the beneficial nitrifying bacteria reside in the filter media and not the substrate/water column.

As for the cloudiness, it may also be an algae breakout. Take a small amount of water and put it into a clear (or white paper) cup. If there is a tint of green, then it may be an algal bloom instead of a bacterial bloom.

Update: I did a water change using RO water after my original post and when I returned from class the water clouded up again. I checked the water color and it was not green so I'm going to say bacterial bloom.

I did not move over the filter cartridge because I changed filters and the old one would not fit in the new one. Figured there would be enough bacteria on the wood, substrate and water. I guess not. Strange how it just bloomed out of nowhere though after having the water be clear for the first two weeks.

I did not move over the filter cartridge because I changed filters and the old one would not fit in the new one. Figured there would be enough bacteria on the wood, substrate and water. I guess not. Strange how it just bloomed out of nowhere though after having the water be clear for the first two weeks.

My fish do not seem bothered by this though...

From the sounds of it, it is definitely a bacterial bloom. Not moving over the filter cartridge was likely the culprit. Unfortunately, the amount of bacteria on the wood, substrate and in the water column is negligible compared to the amount that reside in the filter media.

I am not sure why the cycle was triggered so late, but I would keep an eye on your water parameters and do water changes as frequently as possible (it may become necessary to carry them out on a daily basis) to prevent the ammonia and the subsequent nitrites from building up to toxic levels.

Heterotrophic bacteria do, and can cloud the water whenever there is a disturbance. They usually eat whatever food got kicked up, then die back to reasonable (non-cloudy water) levels within a week.

I am also concerned about the 'neutral regulator'. Monkeying around with the pH can also cause cloudy water.
I just use dechlorinator, and add the right minerals (if needed) to keep the GH correct for the livestock. The pH is actually about in 4th place as far as importance. So unimportant that I do not usually do anything about it.

Originally Posted by Diana;2094214
I am also concerned about the 'neutral regulator'. Monkeying around with the pH can also cause cloudy water.
I just use dechlorinator, and add the right minerals (if needed) to keep the GH correct for the livestock. The pH is actually about in 4th place as far as importance. So [I

un[/I]important that I do not usually do anything about it.

I think you are probably correct. I was just told to use neutral regulator by a LFS. But I guess I do not need that since I only have tetras.

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